Tug of War

Surveillance Capitalism, Military Contracting, and the Rise of the Security State

Business & Finance, Industries & Professions, Industries
Cover of the book Tug of War by Jocelyn Wills, MQUP
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jocelyn Wills ISBN: 9780773550490
Publisher: MQUP Publication: September 4, 2017
Imprint: MQUP Language: English
Author: Jocelyn Wills
ISBN: 9780773550490
Publisher: MQUP
Publication: September 4, 2017
Imprint: MQUP
Language: English

Selling Earth observation satellites on their abilities to predict and limit adverse environmental change, politicians, business leaders, the media, and technology enthusiasts have spent sixty years arguing that space exploration can create a more peaceful, prosperous world. Capitalist states have also socialized the risk and privatized the profits of the commercial space industry by convincing taxpayers to fund surveillance technologies as necessary components of sovereignty, freedom, and democracy. Jocelyn Wills’s Tug of War reminds us that colonizing the cosmos has not only accelerated the arms race but also encouraged government contractors to compete for the military and commercial spoils of surveillance. Although Canadians prefer to celebrate their role as purveyors of peaceful space applications, Canada has played a pivotal part in the expansion of neoliberal policies and surveillance networks that now encircle the globe, primarily as a political ally of the United States and component supplier for its military-industrial complex. Tracing the forty-five-year history of Canada’s largest space company – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) – through the lens of surveillance studies and a trove of oral history transcripts, government documents, trade journals, and other sources, Wills places capitalism’s imperial ambitions squarely at the centre of Canada-US relations and the privatization of the Canadian political economy. Tug of War confronts the mythic lure of technological progress and the ways in which those who profess little interest in war rationalize their leap into military contracting by avoiding the moral and political implications of their work.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Selling Earth observation satellites on their abilities to predict and limit adverse environmental change, politicians, business leaders, the media, and technology enthusiasts have spent sixty years arguing that space exploration can create a more peaceful, prosperous world. Capitalist states have also socialized the risk and privatized the profits of the commercial space industry by convincing taxpayers to fund surveillance technologies as necessary components of sovereignty, freedom, and democracy. Jocelyn Wills’s Tug of War reminds us that colonizing the cosmos has not only accelerated the arms race but also encouraged government contractors to compete for the military and commercial spoils of surveillance. Although Canadians prefer to celebrate their role as purveyors of peaceful space applications, Canada has played a pivotal part in the expansion of neoliberal policies and surveillance networks that now encircle the globe, primarily as a political ally of the United States and component supplier for its military-industrial complex. Tracing the forty-five-year history of Canada’s largest space company – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) – through the lens of surveillance studies and a trove of oral history transcripts, government documents, trade journals, and other sources, Wills places capitalism’s imperial ambitions squarely at the centre of Canada-US relations and the privatization of the Canadian political economy. Tug of War confronts the mythic lure of technological progress and the ways in which those who profess little interest in war rationalize their leap into military contracting by avoiding the moral and political implications of their work.

More books from MQUP

Cover of the book The Limits of Boundaries by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Compositional Crossroads by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book The Hand of God by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book The Black Atlantic Reconsidered by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Ancestral Recall by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Cold Rush by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book The Life and Times of Raúl Prebisch, 1901-1986 by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Making Sense out of Meaning by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Between Dispersion and Belonging by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Singing from the Darktime by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Evolutionary Intuitionism by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book The Once and Future Great Lakes Country by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Forgotten by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book Powering Up Canada by Jocelyn Wills
Cover of the book A Diplomat's Handbook for Democracy Development Support by Jocelyn Wills
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy